Wrestle Kingdom 15-Night 1 Preview

King of Pro Wrestling Ranbo

The Ranbo returns! I am super excited to see this return to Wrestle Kingdom card. This has always been a guilty pleasure of mine when it comes to NJPW. This year, the match will feature 22 entrants and eliminations will come from pinfalls, submissions, and being tossed over the top rope. This year, they are trying something a little different. The match will continue until there are 4 competitors left. After that, the winners will move on to a special 4-way match on night 2 to crown the 2021 King of Pro Wrestling. Much like the Royal Rumble, part of the fun is trying to figure out the entrants. Expect a mix of legends, young lions, and some surprises.

Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Phantasmo (Winner challenges for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight title on night 2)

The winner of the Best of Super Jrs takes on the winner of the Super J-Cup! This should be a ton of fun. These two are some of the craziest characters in all of pro wrestling and that alone should be really entertaining. Hiromu was my pick for Wrestler of the Year for 2020 and this could be a showcase for the Ticking Time Bomb. As for ELP, I think that if it wasn’t for COVID, he would have had a breakout year in 2020, and winning back to back Super J-Cups shows me that he is still set for a push in 2021. As much as I would like to see a Bullet Club vs. Bullet Club match on night 2, I think Hiromu vs. Ishimori is the better match. Prediction: Hiromu Takahashi

IWGP Tag Team Championship- Dangerous Tekkers (c) vs. Guerrillas of Destiny

This should be very interesting. It’s not too often we see heel vs. heel matches outside of tournaments in NJPW. G.O.D finally got their big win last month by winning World Tag League, an accolade that has escaped them in the past. Dangerous Tekkers have been been a standout in the tag division in 2020 and this is their shot to really cement themselves as the team to beat in the division. For G.O.D, they have yet to win a match at a dome show. They’ve already broken one curse, maybe they can break another. I think ZSJ and Taichi are winning here to prove that Suzuki-Gun is still a factor in NJPW. Prediction: Dangerous Tekkers

IWGP US Title Match Contract-KENTA vs. Satoshi Kojima

Like they always say, “Card subject to change.” This match was originally going to be KENTA vs. Juice Robinson but Juice got hurt and Kojima earned his opportunity to fill in at the Tokyo Dome. Look, I love Juice but I actually think that this is a better match on paper. Kojima may be winding down but he can still go when needed. The leader of Bread Club is one of the purest babyfaces there is and KENTA is the ultimate troll. I would love for Kojima to get his moment of triumph at the dome and defeat KENTA but I don’t see that happening. KENTA has to win here so that we will finally see him against Jon Moxley for the US title…eventually. Prediction: KENTA

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Great-O-Khan

This is a special singles match. Whilst not a full-on grudge match, this is pretty dang close. When the Empire was founded, it was done so on the ashes of the old guard. Tanahashi has been the standard-bearer for NJPW for so long that he is synonymous with the promotion. He really is “Mr. Wrestle Kingdom.” which made his absolute decimation from O-Khan at World Tag League so shocking. Since O-Khan’s return from his excursion, he has done everything right. He even managed to take a gimmick that I wasn’t sold on in Rev Pro and made it work in New Japan. Hiroshi Tanahashi has always been one of those guys that knows when to help put over the next generation and the Empire needs to be established early as the new threat in 2021. Prediction: Great-O-Khan

Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay

The other special singles match. This one IS a grudge match. Will Ospreay betraying CHAOS and turning his back on the man that brought him into NJPW has been one of my favorite stories in the promotion. Will’s a heel now but he’s a heel that has a reason for doing what he did. He felt overshadowed by Okada even though many have said that Will surpassed Okada as the best wrestler in the world.

Okada has had an interesting 2020. Many people were disappointed in his performance in the G-1 and even more seemed disappointed how he wrestled period (I.E. the Money Clip). People were genuinely confused when Okada introduced the King of Pro Wrestling concept to NJPW. This led to a lot of people wondering if the golden goose of NJPW was starting to decline. I disagree. I think Okada has been some of the best character work of his career and the fact that so many bought into it, proves it.

Since moving up the heavyweight division, Will Ospreay has had a tremendous run. As I said earlier, I think the Empire needs to be established as a credible threat. There is no better way to do that than by beating the man that is considered to be the best in a whole generation of wrestlers. Prediction: Will Ospreay

IWGP Intercontinental/IWGP Heavyweight Championship Double Title Match- Tetsuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi

Here we go. Similar to last year, the winner here will defend their titles on night 2, this time against G-1 briefcase holder, Jay White. If the history between these two is any indication, expect a hard-hitting fight and be prepared to count the number of times someone gets dropped on their head.

Naito has been the man to lead NJPW through this pandemic era of wrestling. Yes, he briefly lost both titles to Evil but, the image of him winning them back last summer was such a fantastic visual that it was worth the hiccup. He really has earned his spot at the top of the card.

Ibushi has always been on the cusp of being “the guy”. Winning a G-1 tournament is an accomplishment that few have managed. Winning back to back G-1s is an anomaly that has not been done in quite some time. We all thought that last year was going to be the moment that the Golden Star would shine brightest but it would not be the case. When Kota won this year’s tournament, we thought that this would the start of something big…and then Kota lost the briefcase to Jay White in an unprecedented twist of fate. It would seem Kota would lose another chance to become the new ace of NJPW.

The fates would have other plans though. In a strange turn of events, Naito wanted to have another match with Ibushi and wanted to do it at the biggest show of the year. Jay White still gets his chance at the titles but Kota gets the first shot. This whole story has been a convoluted mess but I think it finally evened out. I think Kota will finally get his redemption here and will move on to Jay White on night 2. Prediction: Kota Ibushi

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